Phoenix Center tries to rise again

Oakland County Circuit Judge Michael Warren has granted a preliminary injunction halting the demolition of Pontiac’s Phoenix Center and said the case will be expedited.

“The key issue before the court today is whether the Constitution matters. It does. This factor favors the plaintiffs,” said a passage in Warren’s order, released Friday.

Attorney Steven Sallen reacted: “This decision was not only a good result for our clients, who seek to protect their property rights, but a victory for the Constitution and the preservation and protection of citizens’ fundamental rights.”

Sallen is an attorney at Maddin, Hauser, Wartell, Roth & Heller P.C., the Southfield firm representing the two Ottawa Towers office buildings, which are adjacent to the Phoenix Center.

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“This is the first recorded case in which an emergency manager has been enjoined or prevented by a court from taking his desired action,” he said.

Emergency Financial Manager Lou Schimmel’s demolition plans for the parking garage and amphitheater are the subject of a lawsuit filed Nov. 2 in Oakland County Circuit Court by the Ottawa Towers.

“Ultimately, we would like it to be a permanent injunction,” Sallen said.

“For the time being, this injunction at least allows us to have our day in court without the threat of being damaged irreversibly.”

The suit seeks $9 million in damages if the Phoenix Center is demolished.

“The injunction was granted, and I’m meeting with the county’s attorneys and our attorneys to determine what, legally, we are going to do going forward as a result of the injunction,” Schimmel said on Monday.

“I certainly have the authority to do this,” he said of the demolition plans.

The emergency financial manager has said the city has selected Adamo Demolition Co. for the $2 million tear down, but is waiting until the litigation with the Ottawa Towers is resolved before signing the contract.

The parties in the suit will meet before Warren at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday for a status conference.

Schimmel announced the demolition plans on July 5, citing $8.1 million in repairs and upkeep needed on the structure during the next 10 years. He has said the Phoenix Center costs the city about $175,000 annually.

“ … The Phoenix Center is an underutilized facility, imposes significant financial losses on the City of Pontiac, and has lost most of its power (the copper in its generator having been stripped); the street running underneath the Phoenix Center has been closed; one man died of an apparent drug overdose on the premises; and it has become a magnet for prostitution,” said a passage in Warren’s preliminary injunction order.

The preliminary injunction comes after a Nov. 28 hearing where the Ottawa Towers’ attorneys argued that Schimmel lacks authority to tear down the Phoenix Center, and that a demolition would damage the Ottawa Towers and violate the buildings’ easement rights.

The Ottawa Towers suit names Schimmel, the City of Pontiac, Oakland County and the Oakland County Building Authority as defendants. Oakland County holds a lien on the Phoenix Center after having refinanced bonds on the structure for the city.

An earlier lawsuit filed by the Ottawa Towers in federal court was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn on Nov. 5.